Illusions
by Ascarde
Summary: A man wears a mask; his face grows to fit it.


When someone wears a mask, their face grows to fit it. The greatest of schemers are no exception. The Soul Reaper called Sosuke Aizen had worn a mask for centuries; when he removed the mask, some of his own identity went with it.

* * *

Lieutenant Sosuke Aizen walks patiently behind his captain, Shinji Hirako. A small smile could be seen creeping on his face as he listens to the regular rant of his captain as he complains about a young girl that injured him. Honestly, if he couldn't defend himself from a simple girl's assault, he has no place being a captain. Aizen couldn't quite stop him from voicing his concern. Immediately his captain goes defensive, stating what a vicious loli the girl is and even Aizen couldn't defend himself and stop smiling, you bastard. Captain Hirako was later kicked to the ground by said loli and the two degenerated into an argument more befitting children.

Aizen's smile grew wider.

Sosuke is wondering how to get Shinji into the best possible position for betrayal and framing. Aizen is appalled at the callous treatment of his captain, and ruthlessly quashes the voice. He needn't rush; he has all the time he needs.

* * *

"Kirio was promoted to the Royal Guard, effective immediately," Captain Shunsui Kyoraku muses more aloud than to himself. Aizen is shocked; Kirio was the closest thing he had to an aunt and arguably a mother; she helped him gain vast amounts of both knowledge and science.

Sosuke, in the meantime, muses on whether or not she will appear once his plan is put into effect and whether she will be an obstacle. Aizen warns her not to; he'd be pushing away the closest thing to family he had since he joined the Gotei 13. Sosuke ignores Aizen and waves it aside; unlikely. With all his preparations, even the Royal Guard will be caught off guard.

Aizen officially is getting worried.

* * *

"Thank you, captain. You provided wonderful research material," Sosuke says softly, Kyoka Suigetsu gleaming in the moonlight and poised to remove Shinji's head. Aizen rejects this and jumps to the defense of his captain, freezing his arm, but permits him to move to avoid having his arm sliced off by Captain Urahara. Perfect, Aizen thinks. Reinforcements.

He forces his mouth open and speaks, Sosuke hissing in surprise and anger.

* * *

Captain Aizen watches Captain Kurosaki attempt to cut down the Hollow he, Gin, and Tousen created. Sosuke steps forward and cuts the unsuspecting captain down.

An unexpected Quincy appears and attempts to engage the Hollow. Tousen steps to spill her blood, but Captain Aizen stops him, his old childish curiosity passed on by Kirio having never quite left him. Sosuke is annoyed, but he is patient. Why that tiny voice has not left him even though he stopped being a Soul Reaper years ago is beyond him.

* * *

"Thank you, Hinamori…" Sosuke mutters softly.

"Captain Aizen…" she speaks, barely a whisper. Then a sickening squelch as Kyoka Suigetsu sprouts from her back. As she falls to the floor, Sosuke stares vacantly at rapidly expanding puddle of blood and his lieutenant's dead eyes. Something beastly in its intensity lashes at Sosuke's mind.

"What on earth are you doing, you madman!?" It is not an unfamiliar voice. How could his own voice be unfamiliar to him?

"A necessary casualty. Regrettable, but necessary," he reasons.

"That is a load of shit and you KNOW it. How could you betray her like this?"

"Enough," he hisses. He cannot regret or look back; she was merely a pawn, after all. Just a step in furthering his goals.

Yes, that sounded like a good reason to him.

* * *

Zabimaru splinters into a thousand pieces by the force of his sword. He has no desire to kill Renji. Aizen is proud of his skill. Sosuke is happy at his blind devotion. Both are mutually happy, but for entirely different reasons.

"Please step aside, Renji. I don't want to kill a subordinate," Aizen says gently. Reasonably. The voice he wore to deceive the Society.

"No. I'm not going to give up Rukia!" he shouts back. Aizen is overjoyed at his loyalty to his friends and peers, just as he had passed on to him. Sosuke is annoyed, but accepts this. What is an ant in comparison to a god, after all?

Kyoka Suigetsu falls, a streak of silver in the light of day. A gentle tinkle as it hits a pitch black daito, wielded by a most unusual Soul Reaper. Aizen is curious; this cannot be Captain Kurosaki's son, but the hair matches…

He is merciful. Instead of bisecting the boy as Sosuke demanded, he merely crippled him by rendering a deep gash across his chest. The boy falls, his red vital liquid staining the dirt underneath him as he gasps for breath.

"Stay down," Aizen pleads mentally. "I cannot guarantee your safety if you do not."

* * *

The blood of his former comrades and friends stain Kyoka Suigetsu's blade a deep crimson. Captain Kyoraku's former lieutenant, Lisa if he remembered correctly, falls to the earth far below. He tosses aside the golden whip and swishes his sword to clear it of blood.

Aizen is protesting most strongly at this, and Sosuke is getting more and more annoyed. He had not successfully killed a single Soul Reaper. Something inside him was stopping him from bisecting the obstacles in his path. They merely got off with heavy wounds, but none of them were lethal. Had he not severed all ties with the Society centuries ago? Why is he showing mercy?

"Because they're your friends. Our colleagues," Aizen insists. Sosuke ignores him, as he so frequently has been lately. The next person to cross his path and is not affiliated with him will die, he guarantees it.

* * *

Gin hangs limp over Kyoka Suigetsu. Blood drips from his mouth. Sosuke smiles smugly, triumphantly. Gin feebly reaches out in order to seize the Hogyoku. He seizes his arm and rips it from its socket, before hurtling him into a building and following him to end his life. Deep inside, Aizen weeps for his cherished friend. Lieutenant. Colleague. Pawn? One does not cry in chess when losing a pawn.

Foolish woman. Very well; since she insists on dying with Gin, he will grant her wish.

Rangiku; weren't they drinking buddies the few times she managed to drag him away from his paperwork? Kyoka Suigetsu hesitates for a fraction of a second.

A foot slams the concrete behind, and Sosuke and Aizen turn as one to view the newcomer.

Aizen is relieved. If anyone could stop him, Captain Kurosaki's son could. He could place his trust in him, as Gin did, to stop himself.

Sosuke is merely annoyed. How many more insects must impede his way before he ascends to the throne of heaven?

Yet, he couldn't help himself; he attempted to strike idle conversation; like he had done with his colleagues. Tensions were not healthy on the battlefield; it was important to be relaxed on the field and in battle.

Aizen inwardly cheers as Ichigo Kurosaki slams his palm into his face and drags him away from Gin, Rangiku, and the countless innocents in that town.

* * *

He is rapidly losing power. The Hogyoku's vast strength was leaving his body. Sosuke struggles to stand. Aizen attempts to force himself down. He holds his sword, his trusted partner, Kyoka Suigetsu before him one last time. It is already chipping away; flakes of it are dissipating into the wind.

_Don't refer to her as it! She's your partner!_

"Behold, Ichigo Kurosaki. The Hogyoku has deemed me no longer needing a zanpakuto; I will become like you; one who transcended and became one with his zanpakuto! No, I will eclipse you, as you are but a shadow of your former self! You are finished!" Sosuke declares hoarsely, but triumphantly.

_Do it!_

Zanpakuto have one failsafe command. It was implemented after the Quincy Extermination to prevent the Quincies from harnessing the zanpakuto. If the wielder deems it necessary, the can order their sword to disintegrate; it severs the tie between them, and the Soul Reaper will follow their sword into death. They are one, after all; one cannot exist without the other. Aizen, Captain of Squad Five, orders Kyoka Suigetsu to disintegrate. With a sad murmur of acknowledgement, Kyoka Suigetsu obeys its _her_ final order.

It _She_ shatters, and Sosuke and Aizen are alone.

They are in shock. Their tool_ their partner_, has left them. Aizen clutches his empty hand in grief, mourning his beloved sword. Sosuke is enraged at the loss of his tool. He needs it for manipulation; the tool he needs for controlling the world!

A familiar clack of wood on stone, and they turn. Before them is a sad looking Kisuke Captain Urahara. As he explains the kido, Sosuke is enraged and attempts to force the kido off of him. Demanding answers to questions Urahara couldn't possibly have known about. The demon's magic finally engulfs Sosuke and all is quiet.

Aizen is relieved. Sosuke has fallen; a powerless husk of a being now. Content, he lets the tie connecting him to Kyoka Suigetsu guide him to the void of after the afterlife.

Captain Aizen died that day. Sosuke remained, seething with anger at the world. But he was powerless now; that pathetic shade took from him his weapon, his tools…

…his subordinates, his friends, his family.

Sosuke weeps at what he tossed aside for a flimsy possibility.

* * *

Before the reformed 46, Aizen appears one last time, intentionally provoking the council into binding his mouth. He does not resist. He no longer has the means, the drive, to do so. To do anything anymore.

* * *

A/N: I was always fascinated by the trope "Becoming the Mask". To me, there is no greater means for drama and angst and all that good stuff.

Aizen was one of my more favorite characters in Bleach, and I personally found it curious that if, as he claimed, it was difficult for him "not to kill a bug", why didn't he during the entire war? The only real casualty were the Espada and Gin, but absolutely no one of the Shinigami died.

And yes I used Soul Reaper and the entire English shtick. I'm not a Japanese speaker and I feel as if I'd butcher the language if I did so. I can understand that it sounds better, but it's gratuitous. It doesn't add anything to the story nor does it affect anything, so I decided not to do it. I used his full name to differentiate between the two personas.

Aizen the cool captain we saw at the beginning who treasured his friends and was in perfect harmony with Kyoka Suigetsu.

Sosuke is... well, Sosuke afterwards.

I couldn't fit everything in; I tried to get the moments I felt that Aizen at the beginning if he kept his character and not shifted in character, but it's difficult.

As always, please leave a review.

Until we meet again.

~J

P.S

J: Muse, is that you?

Muse: Mmmmmmaaaaaayyybe?


End file.
